In Memoriam
by Piloting Insanity
Summary: In the wake of the horrific terror attacks against Charlie Hebdo that plagued France for three days, Harry Potter, Head of the DMLE in Britain, addresses the ICW & gives a little food for thought. After all, happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light. #JeSuisCharlie


**Disclaimer: This is all J.K. Rowling's. This story is a work of fiction. Anything you recognise is JKR's, everything else is mine. No profit is being gained by this.**

**In recognition of the horrific events that plagued France for three days from the 7****th**** January 2015, I offer this piece of fanfiction. **

**It is nothing special. Some of you will praise it, others will hate it. I do not care. For what this is worth, it offers little to the families that lost their loved ones on those days, but the message is a lot.**

**I offer my condolences to those who lost family, and praise to Charlie Hebdo for standing strong. If you go to my profile, at the bottom you will find a piece on 'Je Suis Charlie'. Please copy it to yours to show your solidarity.**

**In Memoriam.**

_If only you could feel the tears and pain,  
>In the eyes of the world<em> _– Rainbow._

A cool breeze swept over the open garden, the flags of various countries fluttering with the walls of the marquees. Various dignitaries and representatives were seated on plush purple chairs, everyone's gaze fixed upon the beautiful woman who stood on a small podium at the front. She gestured with her hands as she spoke, her voice both strong and passionate. She spoke in English, for that was the first language of the International Confederation of Wizards, whom she was addressing. Her native French accent broke through occasionally as she talked, but she was understood clearly. Ironically, no-one seemed to be affected by the Veela allure and so Fleur Delacour had spoken with supreme and aweing confidence.

Soon, however, the French woman's speech had come to an end. She finished her final sentence, and smiled modestly towards who audience, who abruptly broke into a thunderous applause. Whistles, cheers and camera clicks were heard as flashes of light washed over the former Triwzard Cup competitor. Finally, after a minute, Fleur held up her handed and a respectful hush fell over the area.

"As much as my speech w_az_ good," Fleur said clearly, facing the members from various Ministries around the world, as well as some of the most important figures of contemporary Wizardkind. "_Ee_t will be insignificant compared to what iz to be next.

As you all know, the French Muggles have faced a horrendous ordeal th_ee_s month; a terrorist attack wizin my own country. It may remind you of what Britain suffered over twenty years ago; the wizard terrorist Voldemort and his Death Eaters. But I will not spoil what iz to come. Ladies and gentleman, may I present you Senior Auror Harry Potter, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement of the British Ministry."

Fleur stepped aside and waved her hand towards the direction of a tall, raven-haired man. Harry Potter kissed his wife briefly and ruffled his son's hair before he stood and walked towards Fleur on the podium, waving towards the cameras as he did so.

With five swift steps, the saviour of the Wizarding World had reached the podium. Harry walked towards Fleur and gave her a small kiss on each cheek before turning once again to the cameras. He waved once more and nodded to Fleur, who walked off of the podium and towards her own seat. The journalists kept taking pictures and quite a few people were still standing, clapping. Harry smiled again and gestured for all to cease. He carefully placed his papers in order on a stand and placed his hands on either side, leaning forward slightly. His green eyes held a small twinkle as he surveyed the crowd before him, and then he began.

"I, err, I just wish to say thank you, for inviting me to this meeting."

A few more cheers and clapping went up as he spoke and Harry smiled again, though it held traces of irritability in it now. Harry waited until it died down before continuing.

"That was a wonderful speech Fleur and a well done to you for making it so." Harry stated, tipping his head towards the French beauty. "I, err, also wish to say hello to all those here.

I have to say, it's an honour to be standing up here in front of some of the most powerful and most respected wizards in the world. The International Confederation of Wizards is a highly respected body, and again, it's an honour.

You may know me," Harry said, prompting a few smiles, one on his lips. "Unless, of course, you've been under a rock for the last forty or so years. I'm Harry Potter. Also known as the Boy Who Lived, the Boy Saviour, the Chosen One – I could go on.

I'm also the vanquisher of a Dark Lord."

The temperature of the room dropped down a few degrees.

"His name was Lord Voldemort.

He was a terrorist.

We'll come back to that."

Harry looked around the room before glancing at his papers briefly.

"As Fleur said, I'm going to be talking about the atrocities that were committed in Paris on January 7th 2015 and the following three days. I'm going to be talking about what drove what seemed to be likable men and a woman to murder in cold blood innocent citizens."

The whole area was completely silent, and the mood was sombre.

"Charlie Hebdo is a cartoonist company, one of the best I have to add, for many a time their pictures brought a smile to my lips. But then the worst happened.

On the morning of January 7th 2015, at 11:30, two masked gunmen stormed Charlie Hebdo's Headquarters and killed eleven people whilst injuring eleven more. After this brutal attack, they went outside and shot an unarmed policeman, the Muggle equivalent of an Auror, in the head at point-blank range."

A collective gasp went around the room at Harry's words. A few people were frowning but most were horror-struck.

"A Muggle terrorist group, Al-Qaeda based in Yemen, claimed responsibility for the attacks. The gunmen proclaimed their affiliation to Al-Qaeda.

A day later, two more gunmen stormed a Jewish supermarket and held hostages. Four were killed, one of the gunmen were killed, while the other escaped.

Now, I'm well aware that some of you in this room believe that this is a problem for the Muggles and that we should leave it to them. After all, no wizards or witches were killed or injured? So, why is it our problem?

I'll tell you why.

There was a young talented boy who started Hogwarts in 1938. His name was Tom Marvolo Riddle. Handsome, remarkably talented and modest, he was liked by most. Yet only a few knew what he would become when he left Hogwarts.

Tom Riddle became Lord Voldemort. In the early 1970's, Voldemort had enough followers to start his campaign of terror against Britain. Wizards and Muggles alike were felled. No-one was safe; everyone was a target. And why? Because the hateful tendencies that ran through Riddle were left unchecked, and manifested themselves into a psychopathic terrorist who killed for fun.

And that's exactly why it is our problem. These terrorists may not be wizards, but they still have the power to do us harm. They can still kill our citizens. And for what? Because we don't do as they say? Because we refuse to let them commit atrocities against mankind?"

Harry had moved away from the stand now and was pacing back and forth along the podium, one hand rubbing his chin, the other gesturing. His entire audience was staring at him with captivated eyes, watching his every movement. Harry knew he had them right where he wanted them; they needed to do something.

"You know, I watched a Muggle film called 'Independence Day', and I was quite impressed by the actor who played the President of America's speech. It went like this:

_Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. Mankind. That word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps it's fate that today is the Fourth of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom... Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution... but from annihilation. We are fighting for our right to live. To exist. And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice: We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!_

Well, I'll tell you something. Today is not the Fourth of July, we are not in America nor are we facing an interstellar war."

A low round of laughing went out at that. But the smiles disappeared at Harry's next words.

"But the principles are the same."

Harry stared around.

"We, the human race, are facing a common threat. Terrorists are out to annihilate us, whether they are Muggle or Magical. We _are_ fighting for our right to exist, to live. And it matters not if it a Muggle or Magical threat, because do you know what?"

Harry looked towards his wife, Ginny Potter, their daughter on her lap and their two sons on the seats to the left.

"We're still human beings. So what we can do magic! Pfft. Muggles have nuclear weapons to which we have no defence. If they knew about us, they could wipe us off the face of the planet. Now think if these terrorists got their hands on these weapons.

But this is not about self-preservation. The chances are they will never find out about us. But they are human and so are we, and by Merlin, it is our duty to protect those who need protection.

We can stand up to this. These terrorists are cowards and the scum of the Earth. They killed innocent people in cold blood, for drawing a few humorous pictures. They shot innocents in a Jewish supermarket, just to prove that they could.

These people are no better than Voldemort. In fact, maybe they are worse. But what I'm trying to get at here is that we need to be and to show a united front in the face of the enemy.

Because if we don't, we will fall.

And we _cannot_ let this happen.

I ask you now, as a member of the human race, of mankind, to show our solidarity and face the threat that wishes to destroy us.

I ask you to protect those who need to be protected.

I ask you to support those who fight for our freedom.

I ask you to condemn those who have committed these horrors.

I ask you to allow free speech, freedom, democracy, to prevail.

We are in this together. We _have_ to stand as one and confront this problem.

Because if we don't, like Voldemort, it will run unchecked and grow and grow until it is impossible to overcome. We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Voldemort made full use of this when he was alive.

We cannot let it happen again.

Our Muggle brothers and sisters are in need of help.

If we let this go on, whose to say someone in the Wizarding World won't capitalise on our reluctance to deal with a threat? What's to that someone has the ambition great and stupid enough to fill the gap that Voldemort vacated? They very well could.

But we can prevent this.

If we stand together, show a united front, and actually do something to stop these crimes from being committed, then perhaps we can stop another Voldemort from resurfacing. Perhaps we can help our Muggle neighbours from being killed.

Because if we can do that… well…

I'll be proud to be a wizard, and more importantly, a human being.

Because, after all, we all bleed if we are cut.

A very old wizard, who's dead now and who also was my mentor, once said one thing that has stuck with me forever. It was

'_We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided._'

Never before has this been truer. We _need_ to stand together to fight a common enemy. Because if we don't, they'll destroy us from within.

We are the human race. We can prevail and we will win this. Self-preservation and happiness are fundamental to our existence. We have to survive and destroy any threats to our stability.

We need to fight the darkness and seek out the light within. After all, happiness _can_ be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light."

Harry's gaze was firm as he stared out at the sea of people. He shuffled his papers in the silence, gathered them together, before walking towards the edge of the podium while the entire room was quiet.

However, just before he reached it, a frown crossed his features and he faced the room once more.

"Oh yeah… just one more thing."

Everyone's eyes were fixed upon Harry Potter.

"_Je Suis Charlie._"

Two complete seconds passed before every single person in the room stood up and a thunderous applause broke out. Harry Potter gave a respectful nod at the cheerful mass of people, hoping with everything he had that his message would make them do _something_, before he walked towards the open arms of his family.


End file.
